Dr. Sacks discusses two controversial diagnoses in this chapter. Tourette’s syndrome and encephalitis lethargica were both forgotten to time because their characteristics were mystical, for this reason many doctors rejected them. Dr. Sacks gives these diagnoses the attention and thought needed to help aide his patient that suffer these symptoms rather than ignoring its existence.
Doctors typically medicate patients to help alleviate symptoms. Dr. Sacks discussed how L-Dopa is administered to post-encephalitic patients to replace their lack of dopamine. In theory, it should balance their chemicals and Dr. Sacks sees great improvements in them because of it. However, with the recovery of their health comes Tourette-like symptoms. To fix one thing means another problem may arise. It can be difficult to find a solution that balances out for the patients, and is important to research for this reason. This is the case for people with Tourette’s.
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The oldest parts of the brain, including the thalamus, hypothalamus, limbic system, and the amygdala, all contain the most basic life functions. An excess of dopamine in the brain causes Tourette’s. An antagonist like Haldol can be used to lower the high levels of dopamine. However, we cannot treat this as a cure since there are also different pathways between structures that are being utilized within the brain. Sometimes using this medicine will make the person feel less emotions. Thus, since each patient is different, we must treat them on a case to case basis to help them individually in the best way